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issue. Feeding bass move back and forth from cover item to cover item, pausing briefly and moving on. Think of times you've anchored, caught a few, then none, later a few more, etc. The idea that bass moved in and out is more logical explanation than that they
stayed in place and turned on and off.

9. Do bass use only their lateral lines to feed in the dark? This idea is a wrong conclusion drawn from the Miller Janzow study. But it has been repeated until it gained myth status. The study actually proved bass were ineffective feeders using only their lateral lines.

They can do so, but it isn't easy. In the test tank, hooded juvenile bass that could not see, trapped minnows in the square tank corners where the preyfish vibrated vigorously. Yet, the hooded bass still missed several times before they got the prey into their mouths.  preyfish also have lateral lines. In open water, prey would sense or see the approaching bass and evade.

Bass eyes see adequately in low light. They aim visually at night. The lateral line is just an aid to getting close enough to see targets.

10. Do water weeds provide cool shade? Weeds provide shade, true, but its not particularly cool. Weeds collect the sun's heat the same way a dark surface collects heat. Plants appear green because the chlorophyll in them absorbs most of the warmest red and orange light rays. This heat is then passed into the water around the weeds. Unless currents wash away the accumulated heat, water under shallow weed beds is often several degrees warmer that water at similar depths away from the beds.

Moreover, the value of shade underwater is exaggerated. The warm parts of the suns rays are absorbed within the top few inches of water. Bass a few feet down feel less sun warming than you can in a clear swimming pool. Stained water absorbs solar heat faster than clear water, and. 90% of the sun's heat is gone below 3 feet of pure water (45% in top 1½ ft.)

11. Does reservoir bassing inevitably decline? Yes and no. The super-large bass population created when reservoirs are new (or refilled) inevitably declines to a lower level as other species claim a share of the food and habitat. But decline to a ruined bass fishery isn't inevitable. Silt and rotting habitat decrease a reservoirs capacity to hold bass. But silt can be stopped before it enters reservoirs and lost wood habitat can be replaced by artificial reefs or vegetation. The most important thing is to prevent overharvest of bass before it occurs.

12. Do bass hover in deep-water shade? There is no shade in deep water, except in caves. Direct sunlight scatters as it penetrates water. Eventually as much is going up and sidewise as is going down. The effect on shadows is the same as that of a heavy overcast at the surface. Shadows disappear as
you go deeper.

13. Are 90% of the bass caught by 10% of the anglers? Perhaps this oversimplification was true once, when only a few people knew how to bass fish effectively. It is not true now. I've collected statistics on various TX bass club. The top 10 usually do outfish other members, and newbies often go fishless. The top six of a typical TX club likely catches between 30 and 40 % of the total catch, the top 10 brings that share up to about 60%, with
all of the remaining members taking 40%.
90% is a gross exaggeration. That's why C&R by the best anglers isn't enough. The average anglers who don't practice C&R can keep enough of bass to fish down a fishery.

14. Are 90% of the bass behind shoreline anglers? This statement is possibly true for new reservoirs with capacity bass populations. Excess bass are forced into marginal deep-water habitats, and without competitive open-water predators like stripers, some bass in new reservoirs can stay deep and thrive. They will remain deep-water fish until fished down, but may not be replaced unless there is another big year class to again force downward migration.

A deep-water excess bass population is rare

in many natural lakes, where weeds and shoreline cover abound, but the deep areas are relatively cover and structure free. Bass naturally are shallow water creatures.

15. Are bass homebodies? Yes and no. Most tracking and tagging studies show bass tend to stay in relatively small home ranges, often returning to the same pieces of cover day after day.  However, as noted before, they leave unacceptable conditions. They may go
deeper in winter if waters drop into the 40s. They also leave to go to spawning grounds, likely to the places they were spawned, if those areas are not within their home range. Otherwise they prefer to stay in place as this
conserves energy.

When there are excess bass, however, all good home ranges become occupied. Some extra bass become wanderers. These fish may travel long distances in one direction or back and forth. Bass that acquire wandering habits may continue to wander, even if suitable home base areas become available.

16. Are all lunkers loners? Bass start off as schooling fry, and will remain in small aggregations until they die if possible. We don't see many Aggregations of larger bass because most of our lakes don't have enough large bass left. They've all been caught, eaten, or mounted.

When numerous big bass are located, they often are in small groups. Where do those giant stringer reports come from? The bass likely weren't taken from widely separated spots.

To school, bass must find several other fish of nearly identical size. Lunkers are loners only because they can't find others of similar size. Group hunting stalking, flushing is usually more effective than individual movement, habituation, or ambush.

17. Do bass fear and avoid human smells, particularly L-serine? L-serine has been demonstrated scientifically to cause an avoidance response in salmonid fishes. They have an inherited instinct to avoid the scent of bears

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